Hop (film)
| screenplay = | story = Cinco Paul Ken Daurio | starring = | music = Christopher Lennertz | cinematography = Peter Lyons Collister | editing = | studio = Illumination Entertainment | distributor = Universal Pictures | released = | runtime = 95 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $63 million | gross = $184 million }} Hop (also known as I Hop in the working title) is a 2011 American 3D live-action/computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and released by Universal Pictures. Directed by Tim Hill and produced by Chris Meledandri and Michele Imperato Stabile. The film was released on April 1, 2011, in the United States and the United Kingdom. Hop stars Russell Brand as E.B., the Easter Bunny (Hugh Laurie)'s son who'd rather drum in a band than succeed his father as the Easter Bunny; James Marsden as Fred O'Hare, a human who is out of work and wishes to become the next Easter Bunny himself; and Hank Azaria as Carlos, an evil chick who plots to take over the Easter organization. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 23, 2012, in Region 1. As of 2019, this is the only live-action/CGI hybrid film from Illumination to date. Plot On Easter Island, an optimistic young talking rabbit named E.B. is intended to succeed his father as the Easter Bunny. Intimidated by the calling's demands and ignoring his father's orders, E.B. runs away to Hollywood to pursue his dream of becoming a drummer. His father sends his royal guards, the Pink Berets, to search for him and bring him back. Meanwhile, E.B.'s father's second-in-command Carlos the Chick plots a coup d'état against him to take over Easter. At Van Nuys, E.B. is hit by Frederick "Fred" O'Hare, an out-of-work, job-hopping slacker who was driving to his sister Sam's boss's house to house-sit, while his parents forced him to move out. Feigning injury, E.B. persuades Fred to take him in as he recovers, but when E.B. causes trouble, Fred attempts to release him in the wilderness. E.B. persuades to help him by claiming to be the Easter Bunny, whom Fred as a child had witnessed delivering eggs. E.B. sees the Berets closing in on him and hides inside a business where Fred is having a job interview. E.B. enjoys a successful recording session with The Blind Boys of Alabama as their substitute drummer, but ruins Fred's job interview. In the process, E.B. gets a tip about a possible audition for David Hasselhoff, who invites him to perform on his show. Afterwards, Fred attends his adoptive younger sister Alex's school Easter pageant with E.B. hiding in a satchel. E.B., alarmed that the Pink Berets have apparently found him due to the three bunny suit shadows on a wall and disgusted by Alex's awful rendition of "Peter Cottontail", dashes out and disrupts the show, forcing Fred to feign a ventriloquist's act with E.B.'s cooperation as his dummy and leading the show in singing, "I Want Candy". Both Fred's father Henry and Alex are angry about the upstaging, but Fred is inspired to be the Easter Bunny himself. Although skeptical, E.B. agrees to train him and finds that Fred has some genuine talent for it. As the Pink Berets close in on him, E.B. prepares a decoy to fake his death and leaves for Hasselhoff's show. The Berets see the decoy and, horrified that Fred has apparently killed E.B., capture him and take him to Easter Island. Fred is confronted by E.B.'s father and Carlos, however Carlos pretends to be upset about E.B.'s death, silences Fred when he tries to tell the truth, and seizes control of the Easter factory, tying up E.B.'s father and placing him and Fred into the chocolate bunny carving line. Meanwhile, E.B. starts to feel guilty for acting selfish and leaving Fred, and is convinced by Hasselhoff on his show to go back and help his friend. E.B. finds evidence of Fred's capture and races back to the factory. He confronts Carlos, but is immobilized in gummy candy and tossed into the chocolate bunny carving line. E.B. saves his father and Fred by eating through the black licorice rope, something that his fellow captives were unwilling to do because of the poor taste of the candy, and dodges the blades of the machine. Carlos, now a chick-bunny combination due to the magic of The Egg of Destiny, battles with E.B. and defeats him easily due to his size. Carlos then tries to lead the Egg Sleigh out with his sidekick Phil directing, but E.B. improvises a drum session that drives Phil to uncontrollably dance to the beat and provides the wrong signals, causing the sleigh to crash and subdue Carlos. E.B. then apologizes to his father for his selfishness, and he and Fred are crowned co-Easter Bunnies, while Carlos is forced to pull the Egg Sleigh. In the post-credit scene, Fred is shown successfully delivering an Easter basket to exactly the same Chinese lady who had an unpleasant interaction with E.B.'s dad in a previous scene. When E.B. asks Fred what the lady said, Fred explains in perfect Mandarin, that the reason why it is difficult to deliver baskets in China is due to talking rabbits being intimidating to Chinese citizens. E.B. is surprised that Fred can speak Chinese. Cast The cast in order of production notes listing: Live-action actors * James Marsden as Frederick "Fred" O'Hare, a human who takes in E.B. to recover after he accidentally hits him with his car. When he was younger, Fred saw E.B.'s father at work very early one Easter morning and ever since, he has had a secret dream of doing the job himself. ** Coleton Ray as Young Fred * Kaley Cuoco as Samantha "Sam" O'Hare, Fred's younger sister * Gary Cole as Henry O'Hare, Fred, Sam, and Alex's father * Elizabeth Perkins as Bonnie O'Hare, Henry's wife and Fred, Sam and Alex's mother * Tiffany Espensen as Alexandra "Alex" O'Hare, Fred and Sam's adoptive younger sister * David Hasselhoff as Himself, the host of "Hoff Knows Talent" * Chelsea Handler as Mrs. Beck, the lady who interviews Fred in his job interview * Dustin Ybarra as Cody * Russell Brand as a "Hoff Knows Talent" production assistant. Voice cast * Russell Brand as E.B., a rabbit who would rather be a drummer than be the next Easter Bunny. ** Django Marsh as Young E.B. * Hank Azaria as Carlos, the leader of the Easter Chicks and the film's main antagonist, who has grown tired of always being the Easter Bunny's number two (or lieutenant) and decides to lead a coup d'état. ** Azaria also voices Phil, Carlos' fun-loving sidekick who is friends with E.B. and enjoys music more than working. * Hugh Laurie as Mr. Bunny, E.B.'s father and the current Easter Bunny who wants E.B. to take over the family business instead of becoming a drummer. Production E.B. was designed by Peter de Sève, most famous for the work on the Ice Age characters. The CGI animation of the film was made by Los Angeles-based Rhythm & Hues Studios. The theme song ("I Want Candy") was performed by Australian pop singer Cody Simpson. Release Marketing Universal teamed up with 92 major companies to promote Hop, including Holiday Inn, Krispy Kreme, Lindt, Kraft Foods, The Hershey Company, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Comcast, Kodak, Hallmark, HMV and Burger King. The premiere of Hop took place at Universal Studios Hollywood on March 27, 2011. James Marsden, Russell Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, Hugh Laurie, David Hasselhoff, Cody Simpson and costumed characters of E.B., Carlos, Phil and the Pink Berets all attended the event. Home media Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Hop on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 23, 2012, in North America, and on DVD and Blu-ray Disc back on August 29, 2011, in the United Kingdom. The US Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo pack also features an original short film titled Phil's Dance Party. Reception Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, Hop received an approval rating of 25% based on 134 critics, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The critical consensus reads: "It's impressively animated, but Hop s script is so uninspired that not even James Marsden's frantic mugging can give it any bounce." Metacritic gave the film a 41/100 based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A- on scale of A to F. The subplot involving Carlos the Easter Chick was considered to be insensitive to Mexican Americans by one reviewer. Peter Debruge of Variety called it "hilariously un-PC". Box office Hop opened at #1 at the Friday box office in the U.S. and Canada, earning $11.4 million, beating Source Code and Insidious, two other films that opened that weekend. It then topped the weekend box office with $37.5 million, then making it the 2nd highest opening weekend in 2011 behind Rango, until Rio came out. It also topped the box office in the United Kingdom in its opening weekend, with £1,392,740. Hop held onto the #1 spot in the U.S. and Canada for its second weekend, with a 42% drop, and grossed $21.4 million. During its second week, it beat the four new nationwide releases, Arthur, Hanna, Soul Surfer and Your Highness. In the 2011 Easter weekend, Hop increased 13.7% from its third weekend, with a gross of $12.5 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in North America, becoming the third 2011 film to reach this mark after Rango and Just Go with It. Hop earned $108.1 million in North America and $75.9 million in other countries, bringing its worldwide total to $184 million. It is the lowest grossing out all of Illumination's films. Accolades Other media Video games A video game adaptation based on the film was released exclusively for the Nintendo DS and published by 505 Games. ''Doodle Jump'' game In 2011, Doodle Jump launched a Hop-themed game app for the iPhone. On March 18, the TV advertisement for the game was posted onto YouTube by the film's official YouTube channel. Books Five books based on the film have been released: * Chicks Versus Bunnies: a children's paperback picture book * Hop: The Chapter Book: a story book based on the film's plot * Hoppy Bunnies: a children's board book with finger puppets * Hop: Meet the Easter Bunny: a paperback picture book about the Easter Bunny's workshop * Counting Chicks: a hardcover picture book Other merchandise A large range of licensed merchandise was released in connection with the film, including toys, stuffed animals, many sorts of candy, T-shirts, cookie decorating kits, baked goods and other products from Kraft Foods. Some items were available exclusively at Walmart stores. Burger King launched a line of Hop-themed toys included in their kids meals throughout April 2011. Original score soundtrack The film's official thirty five track original score soundtrack (from Back Lot Music) was released in stores on April 5, 2011. However, on iTunes it was released a month earlier in March. References * }} External links * * * Category:2011 films Category:2010s American animated films Category:2010s fantasy-comedy films Category:2011 computer-animated films Category:American films Category:American children's animated comedy films Category:American children's animated fantasy films Category:Animated films about rabbits and hares Category:Easter films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Tim Hill Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Films scored by Christopher Lennertz Category:Films set in Easter Island Category:Films set in Los Angeles Category:Films shot in Los Angeles Category:Films using computer-generated imagery Category:Films with live action and animation Category:Illumination Entertainment animated films Category:Universal Pictures animated films Category:Works about coups d'état Category:2010s comedy films Category:2010s fantasy films Category:American children's animated films Category:American children's comedy films Category:American children's fantasy films Category:Animated films about animals Category:Films about rabbits and hares